1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to online product advertising and social networking and, more specifically, to a system and method for providing automated targeted online marketing based on a consumer's social media interactions.
2. Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Businesses create marketing campaign advertisements to market products to various consumer demographics in the hopes of convincing some percentage of the consumers to purchase particular products. However, such mass advertisements are costly and relatively ineffective unless interested potential consumers receive information regarding the goods or services in which they are interested. Given the finite budgets involved, it is usually the job function of marketing personnel to obtain sufficient data to assist them in their determination as to which consumers to target with the advertisement.
It is commonly understood in business advertising that if it is possible to accurately determine a potential consumer's desire for or interest in a particular product and provide that consumer with the relevant information regarding that particular product when the desire or interest is greatest, then the chance of the consumer acting on this desire or interest and making the purchase is much greater than if the information is not received, is incorrect, or arrives at a time when interest is low or non-existent. The more certain the desire or interest can be determined, then the higher the probability of a completed sale. Such an advertising technique is known as targeted marketing, which requires adequate essentially real-time consumer information to realize. Thus, actively monitoring a potential consumer's actions, desires, and interests as they occur and develop would be an ideal way of achieving such information, but such effective data gathering is effectively non-existent despite current technology advances.
With the rapid evolution of technology there has been a growing trend toward online publishing by individuals through social media. Popular social media networking websites, for example, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, YouTube, Vine, and Flicker allow users to post user-generated or acquired images and comments effectively at will. And, because camera-enabled smartphones are ubiquitous, it is relatively simple for social media users to take and post digital photographs and video on these websites and to include commentary. Once posted, subscribers or “friends” of the individual's posts are allowed to comment on the posts or otherwise rank such posts to indicate the level of “like” that they share. Such information—ranking by these subscribers or “friends” of particular posts—is invaluable in determining what the subscriber or “friend” is not only interested in, but also when such interest is effectively the greatest. However, efficient access to this information does not exist in current online systems and applications.
One highly relevant exemplar of use of social media networks involves publishers in the fashion industry, who often share images of favorite clothing, shoe, and/or accessory fashion items. Such fashion publishers enjoy sharing clothing and accessory “finds” with others through these social media network websites. Upon posting of, for example, a particularly attractive combination of clothing and accessories, subscribers to the publisher's posts receive notification of such posts and will browse and rank the posted image. Thus, the subscriber personally records his or her current like or dislike of the clothing and accessories. Near real time access to this data would allow marketers of the particular clothing and accessories to present timely relevant advertisements to the subscriber, but such efficiency has not been possible prior the present invention. It is a goal of the present invention to obtain timely information about a consumer's preference for a commercial good so that the possibility of consummating a sale is greatly improved for, among other things, achieving a commission on the sale.